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Apple Inc's stocks went up by 2.2 per cent after reports claimed that Samsung is halting the production of its flagship Note 7

Apple Inc’s stock on Monday soared by 2.2 per cent, reaching its highest since December, after competitor Samsung suspended production of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphones following reports of fires even in the replacement devices.

Samsung in September announced a global recall of at least 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in 10 markets including the US due to faulty batteries causing some of the phones to catch fire. Now with the replacement devices showing a similar fault the world’s biggest smartphone maker is in fresh trouble

Following the reports of fire in replacement devices, Verizon Communications Inc , AT&T Inc and other wireless carriers suspended sales and exchanges of Note 7s.

Best Buy Co Inc will no longer sell the Note 7 and said customers could return their smartphones or exchange them for a different device.

Apple’s stock has gained 13 per cent since mid-September on optimism about demand for the recently launched iPhone 7.

Shares are up 30 per cent from lows hit in May, when fears about weak iPhone demand allowed Google parent Alphabet Inc to briefly take-over Apple as the world’s largest company by market capitalisation.

Samsung is the world’s largest seller of smartphones by volume, with about 23 per cent market share, followed by Apple with 12 per cent, according to market research firm IDC, Reuters reported.